Aiolos debuts with $245 million to advance twice-yearly antibody for asthma
Phase 1Phase 2Executive Change
Aiolos Bio emerged from stealth mode on Tuesday with an oversubscribed $245-million Series A financing and plans to advance its lead drug candidate AIO-001 into mid-stage testing for moderate-to-severe asthma. The anti-TSLP monoclonal antibody, which was licensed from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals in August, has the potential to be administered just twice per year due to its differentiated potency and long half-life, according to the start-up.
Co-founder and board member Tony Adamis said "we believe [AIO-001] has the potential to help patients achieve better disease control with fewer injections, so their asthma doesn't have to play such a central role in their lives. We are working to begin our Phase II trial as soon as possible."
AIO-001 was originally developed through early clinical stages by Jiangsu Hengrui, which retains commercialisation rights in China, with Aiolos holding exclusive rights to the drug outside the country. The start-up says AIO-001 has demonstrated "in multiple clinical studies…encouraging safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and biological activity in healthy volunteers and asthma patients, with low immunogenicity."
Edge with dosing
Amgen and AstraZeneca currently market the anti-TSLP antibody Tezspire (tezepelumab) for patients with severe asthma based on data showing that it significantly reduced annualised asthma exacerbation rates at 52 weeks, with benefit seen across subtypes, including blood eosinophil count. Tezspire is administered by subcutaneous injection every four weeks. TSLP inhibition is also currently under investigation for other immune conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and chronic spontaneous urticaria.
The Series A round in Aiolos was co-led by Atlas Venture, Bain Capital, Forbion and Sofinnova. The drugmaker will use the capital to start a Phase II trial of AIO-001 and explore additional indications.
Industry veteran John Milligan, former CEO of Gilead Sciences, has been appointed chairman of the board of directors. He joins founding CEO Khurem Farooq, formerly the CEO of Gyroscope Therapeutics and the head of the immunology and ophthalmology business at Roche's Genentech unit.
Other companies working on anti-TSLP antibodies include Sanofi, which has a Phase I asset dubbed SAR443765, a bifunctional compound that also blocks IL-13. Meanwhile, Novartis terminated development of its inhaled anti-TSLP therapy ecleralimab. One key opinion leader (KOL) interviewed for a FirstWord report this year noted that the Swiss drugmaker "understood that the important thing is to target the nose and with the inhaled route you are not targeting the nose but only the airways."
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